How to Deal With Water Sprouts on Trees

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Have you discovered water sprouts growing on one or more trees in your landscape?

With their erratic growth patterns, water sprouts aren’t particularly attractive. They tend to grow outward in a variety of directions, resulting in a messy and unkempt appearance.

To make matters worse, water sprouts are highly susceptible to disease and pests.

The thin shoots originating from a tree’s trunk attract disease-causing microbes as well as wood-devouring pests.

For an attractive and healthy landscape, you should remove the water sprouts while also taking preventative measures to keep them from reappearing.

Prune Them

The most effective way to deal with water sprouts is to prune them.

Applying an herbicide may kill water sprouts, but it comes at the cost of harming the tree in the process. By pruning water sprouts, you can safely remove them without harming the tree.

When pruning water sprouts, try to cut them as close to the tree’s trunk as possible. If you only remove three-fourths of a water sprout, the remaining one-quarter may regrow.

To prevent them from regrowing, you must prune water sprouts flush with the tree’s trunk.

Water Trees Regularly

It’s important to water your trees regularly. Otherwise, new water sprouts may emerge.

Trees often develop water sprouts in response to stress.

It’s a biological defense mechanism that’s designed to help trees survive. When a tree is severely dehydrated, for example, it may develop water sprouts in an effort to stay alive.

Therefore, you should take a proactive approach towards watering the trees in your landscape.

Avoid Over-Pruning

Trees can also develop water sprouts in response to over-pruning.

If you aggressively prune a tree’s canopy, the tree may respond by developing water sprouts.

Like dehydration, over-pruning induces stress, which may prompt trees to develop one or more water sprouts on the trunk.

You can still prune trees in your landscape, but you should use caution to minimize the amount of stress it induces. A good rule of thumb to follow is to prune no more than one-third of a tree’s branches. If you prune more than one-third of a tree’s branches, it may develop water sprouts.

Beware of Trauma

Even physical trauma can cause trees to develop water sprouts.

If a tree’s trunk is injured, its biological defense mechanism may tell it to grow water sprouts. Therefore, you should use caution when working in your landscape to protect your trees from physical trauma.

Accidentally hitting a tree’s trunk with a lawnmower or weed eater could cause it to develop water sprouts.

The Woodsman Company offers tree planting, tree pruning and shrub trimming, tree removal and stump grinding as well as a tree wellness program.

If we can help with any of your tree care needs give us a call at 512-846-2535 or 512-940-0799 or

Request a Quote / Schedule an Appointment

The post How to Deal With Water Sprouts on Trees appeared first on Woodsman Tree Service.

How to Deal With Fallen Acorns in Your Landscape

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

To say oak trees produce a lot of acorns would be an understatement. Depending on the species, an oak tree may drop over 10,000 acorns per year.

Assuming you have a half-dozen oak trees, you can expect about 60,000 acorns to cover your landscape during the fall and winter months.

While you can’t prevent oak trees from dropping acorns, there are ways to maintain a clean and tidy landscape during this stage of reproduction.

Rake Them Into a Pile

Perhaps the most common solution for dealing with fallen acorns is to rake them into a pile.

It’s recommended that you wait until all your oak trees have dropped most of their acorns.

Once the acorns have made their way onto your landscape, you can remove them by raking them into a large pile. Using a rake, push the acorns into the middle of your landscape, at which point you can then bag and dispose of them.

Use an Acorn Picker

Raking thousands or even tens of thousands of acorns into a pile, followed by bagging and disposing of them, is tedious. If you have a large landscape, it may take multiple days to clean up all the acorns.

An alternative solution, however, is to use an acorn picker. Also known as a nut roller, an acorn picker is a handheld tool that’s designed to automatically pick up acorns.

It consists of a long rod with a caged bucket at the bottom. As you roll the acorn picker across your landscape, it will automatically pick up acorns as well as other nuts and yard debris.

Use a Leaf Vacuum

Another easy and effective way to deal with fallen acorns is to use a leaf vacuum.

As the name suggests, leaf vacuums are designed primarily to remove fallen leaves. Using a suction vacuum, they “suck up” leaves to promote a cleaner landscape.

While you can always use a leaf vacuum to remove leaves off your landscape, you can also use one to remove fallen acorns.

Catch Them With a Tarp

Arguably, the easiest way to deal with fallen acorns is to catch them with a tarp.

Assuming the oak trees in your landscape haven’t dropped their acorns yet, you can lay a large tarp – or several tarps if necessary – directly underneath the oak trees.

When the cool weather arrives, the oak trees will drop their acorns on the underlying tarp. After all the acorns have been dropped, you can pick up the tarp to dispose of the acorns.

The Woodsman Company offers tree planting, tree pruning and shrub trimming, tree removal and stump grinding as well as a tree wellness program.

If we can help with any of your tree care needs give us a call at 512-846-2535 or 512-940-0799 or

Request a Quote / Schedule an Appointment

The post How to Deal With Fallen Acorns in Your Landscape appeared first on Woodsman Tree Service.

5 Ways to Conserve Water in Your Garden

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

How much water do you typically use in your garden?

Regardless of species or variety, all plants require water. Water allows plants to absorb nutrients from the soil while also assisting in the conversion of sunlight to energy – a process known as photosynthesis.

If your garden is responsible for sky-high water bills, though, you should consider taking a proactive approach towards minimizing the amount of water it uses.

Here are 5 ways to do just that.

#1) Water During the Evening

Watering your garden during the evening – or even at night – can prove beneficial.

If you water your garden during the morning or midday, sunlight will cause a substantial amount of it to evaporate. Some of the water will still soak into the soil, but much of it will evaporate into the air.

Watering your garden during the evening, on the other hand, minimizes evaporation so that more water will soak into the soil.

#2) Choose Drought-Tolerant Plants

While it’s true that all plants require water, some need water less than others.

A few popular garden plants that require a minimal amount of water include blackfoot daisy, chocolate daisy, evergreen sumac and tripsacum.

By choosing drought-tolerant plants such as these, you won’t have to use as much water in your garden.

#3) Build a Drainage System

Another way to conserve water in your garden is to build a drainage system.

If water collects in a specific area of your landscape, perhaps you can use a French drain to guide the water to your garden.

Of course, you should use caution to ensure that water doesn’t remain stagnant in your garden.

Otherwise, it may create waterlogged soil that’s mushy and even harmful to your plants.

#4) Add Mulch

A little mulch can go a long way in conserving water in your garden.

When adding mulch to the topsoil, it will “hold” some of the water. It’s highly absorbent, so when it rains, some of the water will soak into the mulch rather than evaporating into the air.

You don’t have to use a lot of mulch, just a small 2-inch layer should suffice.

#5) Install a Drip Irrigation System

A drip irrigation system can help you conserve water in your garden.

Drip irrigation systems work by slowly releasing water into the soil. As a result, they don’t suffer from evaporation problems associated with traditional irrigation and watering systems.

In fact, research shows that drip irrigation systems use about 30% to 50% less water, making them ideal for gardens and landscapes.

The Woodsman Company offers tree planting, tree pruning and shrub trimming, tree removal and stump grinding as well as a tree wellness program.

If we can help with any of your tree care needs give us a call at 512-846-2535 or 512-940-0799 or

Request a Quote / Schedule an Appointment

The post 5 Ways to Conserve Water in Your Garden appeared first on Woodsman Tree Service.

6 Reasons to Remove Tree Stumps in Your Landscape

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Is your landscape cluttered with tree stumps?

Whether they are from softwood or hardwood trees, you should consider removing them.

While many homeowners turn a blind eye to tree stumps, believing they cause little or no harm, this isn’t always the case.

On the contrary, there are several reasons why you should remove tree stumps in your landscape.

#1) Tree Stumps Can Resprout

Even if a tree stump looks dead, it can still resprout.

In an effort to stay alive, a tree stump may grow new sprouts around its base. These new sprouts typically won’t mature into full-sized trees. Rather, they grow around the stump to create a messy and unkempt appearance.

#2) Tree Stumps Attract Pests

Another reason to remove tree stumps in your landscape is to protect against pests.

Assuming the stump is dead, it will likely begin to rot and decay. When this occurs, it will attract pests, the most notable being termites.

These termites may then make their way into your home, potentially causing thousands of dollars in structural damage.

#3) Tree Stumps Can Interfere With Lawn Maintenance

You’ll have an easier time mowing and maintaining your lawn if all the tree stumps are removed.

When mowing your lawn, you won’t have to worry about running into a tree stump. As a result, you can mow your lawn more quickly and efficiently.

#4) Tree Stumps Pose a Safety Hazard

Did you know that tree stumps can pose a safety hazard?

Short tree stumps are particularly problematic because they are difficult to spot. If someone is running on your lawn, they could accidentally trip and fall on a tree stump.

#5) Tree Stumps Consume Space

Of course, you’ll have more space by removing the tree stumps from your landscape.

Depending on the size of your landscape, removing the stump or stumps could open the doors to a world of landscaping applications. You could use the space to create a compost pile, build a flowerbed or simply plant a new tree.

#6) Tree Stumps Hurt Your Landscape’s Aesthetics

You can improve the aesthetics of your landscape by removing the tree stumps.

Let’s face it, tree stumps aren’t attractive. They are an eyesore that, when left unchecked, will lower the overall aesthetics of your landscape.

To create an attractive and cohesive landscape, you should consider removing the tree stumps.

The Woodsman Company offers tree planting, tree pruning and shrub trimming, tree removal and stump grinding as well as a tree wellness program.

If we can help with any of your tree care needs give us a call at 512-846-2535 or 512-940-0799 or

Request a Quote / Schedule an Appointment

The post 6 Reasons to Remove Tree Stumps in Your Landscape appeared first on Woodsman Tree Service.